Category: [witchcraft & wonder]

they call you a weed
frown when you show up to their
perfect gardens
uninvited
don’t let their limited definition of beautiful
color your flowers less desirable than the rose
you are the beautiful survivor
evolved to take no shit
to keep spreading your bright yellow smiles
everywhere
make a wish
dandelion girl
let it go
fluffy seeds floating in the air
you are invincible
to droughts
and floods
and poisons alike
immortal dreamer
wishgranter
you are hope

sometimes
I forget how to human
how to walk this complicated body
away from danger
I forget these teeth are not weapons
there is no safety in these
weak fingernails
they will never be claws
I can’t outrun other predators on these two feet
and I forget that
I forget how to speak my truths
how to wrap my lips around what I want
and breathe it into understanding
the magic of words
necessary
in a species evolved so far from feral
from growl
and howl
and yip

sometimes
I forget how to be human
and it’s the primal beat of the drums
pulsing in the darkness
that reminds me of my humanity
as I dance
this body finding its wild
in the untamed movements of hands
and feet and hips
and breath
I inhale to remember
how to use this body to become
magic
and exhale to forget
how to limit it to silly human
thing

let life surprise you
let her twists and turns lose you
in the moment
just breathe in
and out
and in again
breathe
and let go of all your
silly little plans
your endless to-do lists
your perfectionism
let life be beautifully chaotic
an exciting adventure without a map
get lost in the moment
just breathe

when we sit around the table
hands clasped in prayer to your Christian God
what does He hear?
my pagan heart feels the words
head bowed in reverence
as we give our collective thanks for life
and I say amen
just like you
does God dislike the prayers of pagans?
does His love extend
to those who speak gratitude into the evening light
or does He close His ears
to the words of unwanted heathens
and those who dare to stand beside them?
I’d like to think His love is
too great to be limited by our arbitrary labels
that God listens to my prayers
just like Hera
or Odin
or Ra
because I am a prayerful person
and God is in the business of answering prayers
from those with hearts open enough to speak them

it takes a certain kind of emptiness to just leave
to pack up and stop making your home in
a familiar place
your feet get restless
tapping out a rhythm that demands
movement
travel
change
I know it’s harsh
tearing up your roots to replant yourself in better soil
but let’s face it
that emptiness is dry clay
wilting your spirit slowly as you
life-starved and listless
go dormant in the harshness of the southern sun
you need to play dandelion fluff and
ride away
let the winds carry you to richer soil until it’s safe
to set down roots again
and bloom

teach me how to pray
how to speak words both sacred and holy
teach me how to love this life in all its
gritty realness
I want to know your prayers
the words you murmur by candle and incense smoke
secret hopes
only your gods have heard
teach me how to worship you
the Universe’s answer to my unspoken questions
a key to unlock the hidden parts of me
my inner temple
teach me how to believe again
how to have faith in something
anything
please
just teach me how to pray

I’ve become the Grey
a traveler of the liminal spaces
the known and the unknown
both defined by the immeasurable chaos
of the things we’ve left unnamed
I am the complexity of vague answers and flexible truths
the grey areas
the places we recognize as necessary
in a world so focused on polar opposites
I am more doorway than door
open to keep seeking
something
on the way in and out
and back in again

I am a reckless giver
my hands
spilling the waters of my life’s blood out
to anyone who’s thirsty
my heart
an open door anyone can walk into
I am home
sanctuary to anyone who comes looking for peace
for a minute to just breathe
my mouth
full of the words anyone needs to hear
the truth when possible
the silence when truth becomes too harsh to bear
the listener too tender to hear it
I am a bottomless pool of forgiveness
absolution to anyone who can’t
face themselves for their sins
my tears
a gentle rain to wash it all away
I am selflessness personified and
karma’s first ripple in anyone’s favor and
I am here
always

every breath from your body is a stone
tossed into the smooth surface of a lake
the ripples
a reflection of your effect on those around you
there is no stillness in living
every word and deed is its own stone
even silence
even the decision to do
nothing
inaction is itself an action
your stones
hit the stillness of life and disturb it
creating wave upon wave of
reaction
and the fact you didn’t see the ripples does not
absolve you
from their effects
you see
you are responsible for yourself
always
your careless harm to another with
blunt words or
inattention
is just as heavy as
your instinctive smile and
soft touch
you are a creator and destroyer
of mountains and molehills
for they
too
are made of ripples
and stones

my favorite flower is the lion’s tooth
the puffball cousin of the strong sunflower
fortuneteller and wishgranter
perfect
her blossom is a yellow sunlight
concentrated in tiny circles of petals
her leaves are bitter greens
an oft ignored feast grown freely in every climate
everywhere across this country
she doesn’t do limits
or lines
her seeds floating past our arbitrary borders
to spread her presence
everywhere
her roots dig deep and wide
and cannot be removed by simply digging her up
you foolish gardener
human
you think she’s a bane
to your picture perfect garden
but no
she is life after the violence
and the poison
and even after the fire
she is the survivor’s role model
a reminder
that the spirit is indestructible even when under attack
she is a resilient being
sister to the ever-returning phoenix
and still you call her
just another
weed

time is a patient teacher
her lessons are of
only chances
and
never agains
she knows the way we stumble in her presence
suddenly hyper-aware of each tick and tock
each lost second a
silent sentry
to our fading vitality
and yet
time is a teacher of patience
reminding us to savor each moment
each breath and heartbeat a blessing
even when we’re bleeding
because the cuts and bruises life inflicts
will always heal
with time